Sex

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Not only is sex the number one search term on the Internet, it's what everyone is searching for in this material world. Sex is the prototype of all material enjoyment. Along with eating, sleeping, and defense, sex is counted as one of the four basic drives of every soul in every material body. Krishna conscious teachings have much to say on the topic—what its purpose is, how it relates to the original consciousness of the self, and how to avoid being ruled by it.

The very first teaching of Krishna consciousness is that we are not our bodies; we are spiritual beings temporarily within material bodies. No amount of material pleasure can give us true happiness because we're not material—we're spiritual. We can only really be fulfilled when our goal is spiritual happiness.

Ironically, while sex is the highest material pleasure, it can diminish our capacity to experience the highest enjoyment there is—ananda, the uninterrupted bliss that comes as a result of reawakening our spiritual consciousness and entering into a relationship with Krishna, the source of all joy.

Our natural, original, spiritual condition is prema, love for God. In the material world, we most often direct our love elsewhere. Our prema has transformed into kama, lust. Our desire to please the source of all pleasure is now the desire to please our own senses. The principal expression of kama is sex.

Marriage is the traditional way of socializing and regulating sex within human society to help ensure social stability and the welfare of women and children. This is so in Krishna consciousness as well. Marriage is a samskara, one of the principles recommended for the social life of human beings. Krishna says that He Himself is sex according to principles of dharma, proper behavior. The natural, biological result of sex is children, and the highest expression of sex is to beget and raise children in a spiritual atmosphere.

How to manage our sex desire—while trying to become free from it—is a major issue faced by all everyone looking for transcendental happiness. Kama can be converted back into prema by the practice of Krishna consciousness. When we redirect our desires toward the center of all enjoyment—the source of all desire—we can experience a sense of perfect, permanent fulfillment and peace higher than even the best of sex.

"The attraction between male and female is the basic principle of material existence. On the basis of this misconception, which ties together the hearts of the male and female, one becomes attracted to his body, home, property, children, relatives and wealth. In this way one increases life's illusions and thinks in terms of 'I and mine.'"

" . . . sex enjoyment is a necessity for the conditioned soul, and sex enjoyment is allowed under the license of marriage ties. According to scriptural injunctions, one is forbidden to engage in sex relationships with any women other than one's wife. All other women are to be considered as one's mother. But in spite of such injunctions, a man is still inclined to have sex relationships with other women. These propensities are to be curbed; otherwise they will be stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization. As long as the material body is there, the necessities of the material body are allowed, but under rules and regulations."

"The highest pleasure in terms of matter is sex pleasure. The whole world is moving under its spell, and a materialist cannot work at all without this motivation. But a person engaged in Krishna consciousness can work with greater vigor without sex pleasure, which he avoids. That is the test in spiritual realization. Spiritual realization and sex pleasure go ill together. A Krishna conscious person is not attracted to any kind of sense pleasure, due to his being a liberated soul."

"The whole material creation is moving under the principle of sex life. In modern civilization, sex life is the focal point for all activities. Wherever one turns his face, he sees sex life predominant. Therefore, sex life is not unreal. Its reality is experienced in the spiritual world. The material sex life is but a perverted reflection of the original fact. The original fact is in the Absolute Truth, and thus the Absolute Truth cannot be impersonal. It is not possible to be impersonal and contain pure sex life. Consequently, the impersonalist philosophers have given indirect impetus to the abominable mundane sex life because they have overstressed the impersonality of the ultimate truth. Consequently, man without information of the actual spiritual form of sex has accepted perverted material sex life as the all in all. There is a distinction between sex life in the diseased material condition and spiritual sex life."